FVXX20 KWBC 041700 . VOLCANIC ASH ADVISORY STATEMENT-WATCH ISSUED 1700 UTC 04 DEC 1999 BY THE WASHINGTON VAAC . GUAGUA PICHINCHA 99-139 ECUADOR 0.17S 78.60W . BACKGROUND: GUAGUA PICHINCHA ECUADOR (1502-02) SUMMIT HEIGHT 15695 FT (4784 M) . THE GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTE IN ECUADOR CONTINUES TO MONITOR THE INCREASED ACTIVITY OF THE GUAGUA PICHINCHA VOLCANO LOCATED NEAR THE CAPITOL CITY OF QUITO. THE VOLCANO IS RESTLESS WITH A POTENTIAL EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION POSSIBLE WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING. . WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE AREA AND IF THERE IS AN ASH CLOUD OBSERVED OR REPORTED AT ANY ALTITUDE A VOLCANIC ASH ADVISORY STATEMENT WARNING WILL BE ISSUED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. REAL TIME SATELLITE IMAGERY OF ECUADOR CAN BE ACCESSED VIA INTERNET AT: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/guag-img.html (ALL LOWER CASE EXCEPT /VAAC/) . THE WATCH VAAS IS ISSUED ONLY FOR SEISMICALLY MONITORED VOLCANOES AND BASED ON INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE GEOLOGICAL COMMUNITY. A WATCH VAAS WILL BE ISSUED DAILY WHEN INFORMATION IS RECEIVED TO INDICATE THAT A VOLCANO IS RESTLESS AND HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR AN EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING. NON-EXPLOSIVE LOW LEVEL AND NEAR SUMMIT ACTIVITY MAY BE OCCURRING AT PRESENT. SEE NOAA-ARL HOMEPAGE FOR HYPOTHETICAL ERUPTIONS-VAFTAD AT: http://www.arl.noaa.gov/vaftad.html (ALL LOWER CASE) . EFFECTIVE JANUARY 3 2000 AT 0000 UTC... ALL REFERENCES TO LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE IN VOLCANIC ASH ADVISORY STATEMENTS WILL BE IN DEGREES AND MINUTES OF A DEGREE. EXAMPLE: 16.70N 62.20W WILL BE 1642N6212W . THE NEXT WATCH STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 05/1700 UTC UNLESS CONDITIONS CHANGE. . WALTER/SAB/NOAA/NESDIS . NNNN